Wednesday, 5 July 2017

A Life Update, Where I've Been and Some News.

Where have I been?

First of all, can we just take a second to acknowledge the fact that it's July? It's freakin' July. We are literally seven months into the year already and I'm not quite sure what I have to show for it. Second of all, hello. Yes, hello! It's me, Katy Belle; I'm still here... kinda. I haven't been though, not as of late, even though I promised I would be (I'm sorry! I swear it's not for lack of trying! I mean, kinda...) and I wanted to have a hypothetical sit down with you to talk about that.

So, what's been going on in my life lately? Well, exactly one week ago I made the rather spontaneous decision to accept a free ticket to a Green Day gig, even though I could count on one hand the amount of times I'd actually voluntarily listened to them in my life. Alas, and I'm not quite sure how to say it but, since coming home from that gig, I haven't really listened to any other band. Yeah, I get it, I'm late to the party. Look, I'm making up for lost time. Like, 20 years of lost time.

TL;DR: I went to a Green Day gig, it was super fun and I literally adore them now. Seriously.

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Aside from that, I'll admit, my life hasn't been terribly exciting lately. We had a really great start to the year, travelling across Europe to see some of our favourite bands; and we have some really exciting trips planned for summer (Disney!) and towards the end of the year, too. But right now, I'm swamped with work, life admin and not much else; and it's pretty deflating, as I'm sure you can imagine. These evenings, all I want to do is flop onto my bed, stare at my ceiling and do nothing but listen to Your Name by Bernache on repeat because it is literally the most chill song I've ever listened to.

Anyway, I digress. Alongside feeling overwhelmed by everyday adulting, I've also been feeling rather disillusioned with blogging more so than ever before - and it all comes together to explain why I've been pretty AWOL lately. When it comes to my blog, I haven't known what to say that I feel is of any proper value. When it comes to social media, particularly Instagram, I've burned myself out with it so much so that I feel as though my creativity is diminishing day by day.

Not too long ago, Lauren from Naked Fashions put together a rather inspiring thread on Twitter where she talked about how, as a blogger, it's very easy to become so focused on social platforms such as Instagram. After all, it can offer some really wonderful opportunities to those who do it right. (SLAAAY QUEEN, get those #ads!) And yet, whilst we're spending so much time and effort curating an aesthetically pleasing Instagram theme and feeling disheartened by the algorithm and almost non-existent engagement and growth; we very easily forget about our most powerful tool: our own domains.

I will be the first to admit that, in recent months, I have been putting much more effort into curating content on Instagram than right here on my blog. And whilst it's never going to be a bad thing to put hard work into something that works for you and that you can reap the rewards from; personally, I'm pretty much over putting on so much pressure when it comes to Instagram. At the end of the day, social platforms come and go; but I think we're stuck with blogging for a long while yet. It ain't going anywhere anytime soon, and I know where my strengths lie and where they don't.

Now, don't get me wrong; it's not to say you can't absolutely boss the hell out of both, and more. There are plenty who do (and I'm jealous). And it's not as if I'm going to completely stop using Instagram any time soon (you guys, I could scroll for literally hours). To put it simply, I need to focus on what I'm actually good at, what I actually enjoy; so that I can finally lift myself out of this horrendous slump that I've been in for such a long time now. I just want to feel excited about creating content again; and I think owning the sh*t out of my own domain instead of worrying about what my Instagram theme looks like or how many followers I've lost that given day is the best way for me, personally.

TL;DR: I've been pretty AWOL with blogging and from here on out I definitely won't be. Promise.

Some exciting news...

On an entirely different note, I did just want to mention (for those of you who might be interested) that I am launching a monthly newsletter as an extension of my blog! Launching a newsletter is something I have been wanting to do for the longest time and it is a project that I feel very passionately excited about. Now, truth be told, it was originally due to launch at the beginning of July however, due to my aforementioned AWOL-ness and other factors that got in the way, I've decided to delay the first issue until August; but it's great news, because it means you've got plenty of time to sign up.

Essentially, my monthly newsletters are going to be packed full of exclusive content ranging from think pieces on style, health, feminism, relationships, friendships, blogging tips and more. As well, I'll be sharing things I've been loving throughout the month; from style, to beauty, to music and beyond. I also have hopes to include quick-fire interviews with some inspiring humans, and will be regularly featuring bloggers/creators of the month. All in all, it's going to be very exciting and I would be thrilled for you to be a part of it. If it sounds like your kind of thing, you can sign up right here.

TL;DR: I'm launching a monthly newsletter and it's going to be great. Sign up HERE!

So, that's where I'm at right now. Somewhere between reverting back to a 15 year old Green Day fan and a gal who is struggling to adult and do what she loves at the same time; all whilst also maintaining a social life and soon to be making time for mandatory Game of Thrones watching. I look forward to sharing some cool content with you from here on out.

Oh, and before I leave, I want to just reiterate what I touched on at the beginning of this post; a lesson that I recently learned, which I feel is a positive note to end on. It is, of course, that we should all consider saying yes to more spontaneous, exciting things in life. After all, you might just find yourself standing in the middle of a field in the pouring rain, unexpectedly having the time of your life and falling in love with a band who were way cooler about 12 years ago.